Teaching

For anyone who was wondering, my first class was a week ago tonight (I'm not teaching tonight, because the school is closed for one of those holidays that only schools and governments get-- Martin Luther King Jr. day)  I think all in all, both classes (we meet Monday and Wednesday nights for 3 1/2 HOURS each time) went pretty well.  I'm already making lists of what to do differently when - and if - I teach this class again, but mostly just ideas of things that may work better, not things that went wrong.  It's hard to write specifics about drafting when I'm not really writing to a drafting audience (with a couple exceptions) but I'm happy with my students' progress so far.  I'll post updates if anything interesting happens. :o)

New Year, New Color

same layout, but a slightly different look.  I can't promise it will last all year though :o)

Soon I will delete my "books II have read in 2007" and start a "books I have read in 2008" list... but, I figure I have till I actually finish a book in 2008 to do that.  

ok this is a pointless post, I think I'll stop now. Auf Wiedersehen.

Graphic Design Efforts

My brother is starting a Mold Remediation business, and he asked me to put together a business card for him. He had a pretty well defined idea of what he wanted but couldn't draw it.

Here are the criteria he gave me:

•  Black background
  
•  BioForce- one word, all caps, but with the "B" and "F" larger,  letters should look like metal 
• cartoonish, tough-looking soldier with exaggerated upper body using the "B" of BioForce for cover as he shoots at mold spores with faces  in the upper right corner of the card

And here are the results:



This might not be what a professional graphic designer would come up with, but I think for free my bro got a pretty decent card, no?

A Word of Advice

If you ever think there might be a dead mouse in your shop-vac, take the thing outside BEFORE opening it to see if you're right.

PEE-EWWW!!!

My crazy family

So my phone rings about 7:30 tonight, and since I'm in the middle of eating my delicious sushi dinner with Jeff, I let it ring. After dinner I check my voicemail, and what do I hear but my mother and 2 youngest sisters (who all live in new york) singing... "happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you..."

they go through the whole thing, and then comes my mom's voice: "we're having a birthday party for you, with special ice cream, so we figured we better sing to you before we ate it."

click.


oh my word, i was dying

thanks for the Birthday Laugh :-D

23 things of Christmas...

1. WRAPPING PAPER OR GIFT BAGS? Wrapping paper, even for he most ridiculously shaped things... don't ask me why, I must be a masochist.

2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? Real. We had an artificial tree my whole life when I was growing up, but Jeff would NEVER get an artificial one, and after the first time out cutting one, I was hooked.

3. WHEN DO YOU PUT UP THE TREE? the weekend closest to my birthday

4. WHEN DO YOU TAKE THE TREE DOWN? in theory around Jan 6th, but in reality I think it was up till February one year...

5. DO YOU LIKE EGG NOG? aghkk-cough hack pbbhhth... GAG! gross. no.

6. FAVORITE GIFT RECEIVED AS A CHILD? Cabbage patch.... I remember YELLING at the top of my lungs THANK YOU SANTA!!!! lol

7. DO YOU HAVE A NATIVITY SCENE? Yes, and I get more pieces for it every year :-D

8. HARDEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? My In-laws and my teenage brothers.

9. EASIEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? Grown/ Married siblings.

10. WORST CHRISTMAS GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED? not sure

11. MAIL OR EMAIL CHRISTMAS CARDS? umm.... someday maybe I'll send out Christmas cards. When I do, they'll be real, not virtual.

12. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

13. WHEN DO YOU START SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS? around Thanksgiving like all the other schmoes who wait that long

14. HAVE YOU EVER RECYCLED A CHRISTMAS PRESENT? I don't THINK so... maybe for like gift exchange things.

15. FAVORITE THING TO EAT AT CHRISTMAS? Roast beef and yorkshire pudding for dinner and chocolate mousse cake for dessert

16. CLEAR LIGHTS OR COLORED LIGHTS ON THE TREE? Clear clear clear clear. can't stand colored lights, they're so not Christmas-y

17. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG? "O Holy Night" (favorite version - Josh Groban) and "Mary, Did you Know?"

18. TRAVEL AT CHRISTMAS OR STAY HOME? Up till last year it's always been home, but from now on it will probably alternate from year to year.

19. CAN YOU NAME ALL OF SANTA’S REINDEER? yes

20. ANGEL OR STAR ON THE TREE TOP? angel

21. OPEN THE PRESENTS CHRISTMAS EVE OR MORNING? morning

22. MOST ANNOYING THING THIS TIME OF YEAR? politically correct people saying "happy holidays"

23. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT CHRISTMAS? remembering that Jesus came to earth to die for MY sins

Things about me...

that sort of (but don't really) have some sort of connection to the letters of the alphabet.

Jennifer posted this on her blog and asked me to do the same. Since she's so nice and sends me lots of things like audio books and italian lessons and stuff, I figured I'd oblige.


A - Age: 28 (for another week anyway)

B - Best Friend: Jeff... if you want non-husband best friend that would be Jennifer

C - Choice of Meat: yum! meat! how could I pick a favorite, I love so many meats prepared so many ways

D - Dream Date: wandering the Italian countryside with my sweetie

E - Exciting Adventure: Going to Italy, renting a car, and trying to get by without counting on Italians being able to speak English :-D

F - Favorite Food: Sushi!

G - Greatest Accomplishment: me? accomplish? I'm more the type to get some great idea and finish it 3/4 of the way ::sigh::

H - Happiest Day of you Life: let's see... I was happy on my wedding day, but also kind of stressed... maybe the day after my wedding? the day we FINALLY got the word we would be closing on the sale of our NY house was pretty happy too :-D

I - Interests: currently-- Learning Italian, getting my Architecture License, Ancient Egyptian Chronology, Old Testament Chronology, Teaching, Photography, Audiobooks... I have too many interests for my attention span, that's always been my problem

J - Joke: How do you kill a blue elephant? (shoot it with a blue elephant gun)
How do you kill a pink elephant? (No, hold it's nose till it turns blue, then shoot it with your blue elephant gun)

K - Kool-Aid: no way you'll catch me drinking Kool-Aid

L - Love: is a good thing

M - Most Valued Possession: sadly... probably my computer. At least, it's (contents anyway) the least replaceable and therefore what I'd be most likely to try to grab if the house was burning down. or can i list the house as my most valued possession? That's certainly the most valuABLE...

N - Name: Audry

O - Outfit You Love: Idk, depends on my mood

P - Pizza Toppings: Everything (yeah, I even like anchovies, though i RARELY eat them because I never eat a whole pizza, and nobody ever wants anchovies even on the other half of their pizza) generally the more toppings the better though

Q - Question Asked to You the Most: idk. i don't think I get asked one question more than others, unless it's something like "how you doing?"

R - Radio Station: 89.9 WDAV Classical

S - Sport: Sport?

T - Television Show: I haven't had TV for 5 years and rarely watched it for some years before that. If you want to go WAY back though, my favorite show of my childhood was definitely MacGyver. I LOVED that show.

U - Umbrella in the rain?: every time it rains I say to myself, "man, why didn't I get an umbrella after the last time this happened?" and yet still, I haven't bought one, even though I'm always looking at them at the store...

V - Video: um.... 2 at a time from netflix :-D

W - Winter: not my favorite season. one good snow is nice, but having the ground covered for months and moths I can do without. also not a big fan of being COLD ALL THE TIME. which is one reason why I moved to NC, where it was 60 deg today while my siblings who still live in NY had a snow day :-D

X - X-rays recently?: not unless you count those bitewings at the dentist

Y - Year Born: 1978

Z - Zodiac Sign: are stupid